Two Rescued, Three Dead in Nueva Vizcaya Mining Tunnel Tragedy

Quezon, Nueva Vizcaya — Five miners were trapped inside a mining tunnel in Barangay Runruno, Quezon, Nueva Vizcaya on Tuesday, June 24, allegedly due to illegal mining activities.

Initial reports from the Quezon Police Station (QPS) stated that all five had perished, but later updates confirmed that two of the miners survived and were successfully rescued.

According to authorities, the miners were believed to have suffocated due to a lack of oxygen while working inside the tunnel, which was around 300 meters deep.

The victims were identified as:

• Daniel Segundo Paggana, 47

• Lipihon Ayudan, 56

• Florencio Indopia, 63

• Alfred Bilibli

• Joval Bantiyan

All were residents of Nueva Vizcaya.

The discovery was made by a fellow miner, Russel Tumapang, who immediately sought help upon realizing the victims were unconscious.

SFO1 Analyn Mallari, Incident Commander of the retrieval operations, reported that Alfred Bilibli was rescued alive around 3:46 p.m. Another miner, whose name has not yet been released, was also pulled out alive from the tunnel.

Rescue and retrieval operations continue as of this writing, as authorities work to recover the remaining victims and determine the full circumstances surrounding the incident.

An investigation is underway to confirm reports linking the victims to illegal mining activities.